Many companies employ automated systems to provide information that customers request concerning products and services. In order to cut down on costs and provide consistent information, some systems employ automated, self-service call response applications that deliver content to callers. Typically, callers can select from available options, by listening to lists of topics and pressing corresponding touch-tone keys. In recent years, some companies have employed speech-enabled technology that allows callers to respond to prompts with verbal statements. Using speech inputs can save time because callers can avoid listening to choices before making a selection. Speech-enabled self-service systems also reduce costs, by reducing the need for human call center agents.
Rather than taking valuable agent time to explain, for example, how to set up CallNotes, an automated application can perform this service. Customers who purchase products and services need to know how to perform basic functions including setup, turn it on, turn it off, and other such functions. It is fairly common for customers to call agents and ask them to explain how to do such functions. An effective, alternative approach is to provide a self-service application that will provide this information to the caller.
Speech-enabled systems can be constructed using prompts and content that may be embedded in fixed state tables. The fixed state tables can be implemented via computer programs by inserting the text of the prompts and the associated content directly into the computer programs. As the length or logical complexity of the prompts and content increases, the use of fixed state tables becomes inefficient. The resulting computer programs can take up substantial portions of memory, and the extra lines of program code can make the programs increasingly difficult to debug and modify. Hence, the costs associated with utilizing fixed state tables can become prohibitive as the number of prompts and the amount of content increases.
Accordingly, there is a need for an improved system and method of accessing content in a speech-enabled automated system.